Today, over one million people use acupuncture each year. Acupuncture is incorporated into today’s health care system for various health conditions. Dissemination of information amongst health care practitioners, insurance providers, policymakers, and the general public will lead to more informed decisions in regard to the use of acupuncture. Patients and providers have a responsibility to facilitate this communication.
The National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the National Institute of Dental Research, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Office of Research on Women’s Health of the NIH have evaluated the efficacy of acupuncture in their respective fields and agree it is valuable to conventional medicine.